Medela to donate $30,000 in Breastfeeding Support Products to Neonatal Intensive Care Units

MCHENRY, Ill., Dec. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Medela announced today the winning neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) from its Virtual Human Milk (breastmilk) Collection Campaign in honor of prematurity awareness and the nearly half million families impacted by premature births each year. Several thousand participants across the U.S. voted for their preferred NICU to win Medela products for their facility.

Each of the six following award recipients will receive $5,000 in neonatal breastfeeding support products to help dedicated NICU staff members foster the human milk path: Golisano's Children's Hospital at Strong Memorial in Rochester, NY, Dayton Children's Medical Center in Dayton Ohio, Sanford Health in Fargo, ND, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, CA, East Tennessee Children's Hospital in Knoxville, TN and Baptist Medical Center South in Jacksonville, FL.

Donated products include:

Symphony® Preemie+™: A major breakthrough for mothers of premature infants, this research-based program1 helps support breastfeeding initiation and increases milk supply.

Waterless Milk Warmers™: Designed to safely, conveniently and effectively warm milk to a temperature consistent with expressed human milk.

BabyWeigh II™ Scale: Provides accurate measurement of baby's weight just before and after breastfeeding; the difference between these two weights equals breastmilk intake.

"Breastmilk is so critical for premature babies. It is nature's medicine, protecting vulnerable babies from serious complications and infections during and after their hospital stay," said Carolin Archibald, president of Medela. "With this campaign we wanted to raise awareness of the importance of breastmilk and to support mothers and healthcare professionals who are providing milk to babies in the NICU."

A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks. In the U.S., nearly half a million babies are born premature, prior to 37 weeks of gestation. Premature birth is a serious health issue in the U.S. and for impacted families. Premature babies have a higher risk for health complications, and most require care in a NICU. NICU staff plays a vital role in the survival and care of premature babies as they have specialized medical expertise and equipment to handle the multiple complications faced by premature infants and their families. Medela's donations will help to provide NICU products to support premature babies and breastfeeding.

Research shows that infants who receive more breastmilk feedings have better health outcomes. Feeding human milk rather than formula in the NICU has shown to reduce the length of hospital stay, days of oxygen therapy needed, and the incidence of late onset sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis (an intestinal infection), ear infections, serious respiratory tract infections and gastroenteritis.

About Medela Medela provides the most technologically advanced, superior-quality breastpumps and breastfeeding accessories to nursing mothers around the world. A longtime champion of breastfeeding, Medela is the only company to develop products based on research by the world's leading lactation experts. As a result, Medela's breastpumps are the number one choice of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities worldwide, including more than 80 percent of U.S. hospitals.

Medela has developed an extensive line of products to meet the diverse needs of nursing mothers. These products include hospital-grade, double and single electric and manual breastpumps; breastfeeding accessories such as pump cleaning products, breast care products and specialty feeding devices; and maternity and nursing intimate apparel.

Founded in 1961 by Olle Larsson in Zug, Switzerland, Medela continues to grow under the ownership of the Larsson family. Medela serves customers through a worldwide network of distribution partners in more than 90 countries and its 15 subsidiaries in the United States, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, China, Poland and Spain. The company entered the United States more than 30 years ago; its U.S. headquarters are located in McHenry, Illinois. www.medela.com